Contemporary Roman Catholic Teaching

Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »

CHAPTER TWO PERSPECTIVE (MY INTEREST IN THE CASE)

A brief motivation for the case for Purgatory and the approach followed.

Methodology and Operative Presumptions

My interest in the subject of purgatory does not arise from nowhere. I was born into a devout Roman Catholic family and was immersed into all the culture, traditions and theology of the Roman Catholic Church. As I have journeyed in life and sought to understand and articulate my faith, my journey has brought me into full-time ministry as the minister of a large church within the Presbyterian tradition of the Church of Scotland. Through this journey, I have become convinced that concern for human destiny is a deep concern for all humans everywhere and at every time.
It must be taken as an assumed fact that there are numerous ways within the Christian community as to the manner in which the Bible is read and understood, as well as how the Christian faith is to be expressed and explained. This being true, it is important that I make clear from the outset the presumptions within which I operate in considering the subject of purgatory. In particular:

1. In my world view, time is linear and that all things move towards a conclusion destined by God. Such a view of the passage of time is one that is generally accepted as given in the Western world. This view:

“sees time as moving irreversibly in a certain direction towards a fulfilment or ‘end’ of some sort. It is called the ‘linear’ concept because time is pictured as moving in a straight line.” (Olivier 1991: 11).
Not only is time linear, but so is life in the sense that humans are progressive and developmental. “… there is that about us which continues consequentially through the process of time, …, that even though death may be regarded as an intrusion and perhaps even as a punishment, it is also necessary as a means to life.” (Bowker 1991: 211)

2. There is the assumption, deriving from my Protestant faith, to seek to recognise the plain and ordinary meaning of the Bible. This obliges me not to ‘fit’ the words of the Bible into predetermined concepts. This allows the Bible to speak for itself as much this can be achieved, whilst taking into account the limitations of such an approach.
3. My reading of the Bible informs me that the end of time is predicated upon the event described as the parousia. This is the event towards which all of time moves. The parousia is broadly understood as the return of Christ and all of the events and consequences that flow from this. These events and consequences include the resurrection, the judgement and realisation or fulfilment of the kingdom of God. These events are described in the Bible and they serve to direct the reader’s attention to God’s promises and what these promises point to.

“The Judeo-Christian belief in historic progression is largely due to the understanding of history as salvation history. The God of Israel is not a God of the past but the future.” (Olivier 1991: 18).
The Bible regards these promises as having been made by God through Jesus Christ and these promises concern human destiny. Further, these promises are reliable and trustworthy because the One who made the promises is reliable and trustworthy.
“My yes means yes because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, nevers wavers between yes and no. He is the one whom Timothy, Silas and I preached to you, and he is the divine Yes – God’s affirmation. For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in him.” (2 Corinthians 1: 18 – 20).
As the promises and prophesies regarding the Messiah were met in the person and life of Jesus, so it is reasonable to have confidence that the promises that Christ made of the future will attain a form of fulfilment. If this is accepted in faith as true, human hope becomes inspired and invigorated by the promises.

4. A feature of linear time infused with the promises made by God in Christ, is that there is a presumption in favour of the continuation of life and its development beyond the grave; further, that this is a reasonable belief.
5. There is a presumption in favour of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. This is understood as a function and feature of the parousia. It is a belief shown to be held by Jesus in his disputes with the Sadducees. In other words, there is a form of life that proceeds past death and its form is expressed as the soul.
6. This continuation of life is specific to each individual. There is the rejection of the concept that human destiny amounts to being simply a retention of the human ego in the ‘memory’ of God, or as part of the great ‘matrix’ of the universe (Ruether 1993) or that individual lives are taken up into the process of God. Such concepts are unfulfilling, limiting and not justified by the Bible.
7. As stated above, I was raised in a Roman Catholic home. My experience of the Roman Catholic Church tended to be of a conservative bent and incorporated the traditional teachings of that denomination. This included purgatory as a place where sins were atoned for – a none-too pleasant place, and one where the souls within that could be affected by prayer. This background needs to be recognised and accommodated within my thinking. At the very least, it must be acknowledged from the outset, that I am not predisposed to reject the concept out of hand. At the same time, I must balance this by the fact that I am a part of the Protestant community with its strong emphasis upon the significance of the Bible when it comes to matters of faith. Part of this latter tradition contains the historical fact that the Protestant movement was hostile towards the notion of purgatory.
8. I possess an experiential Christianity that believes that the Holy Spirit is ‘moving’ and is at work in the world; that the Spirit is operative amongst people and that the Spirit manifests itself in the world today.
9. There is a presumption in favour of common sense and reasonable argument. This seeks to balance conflicting positions and render them harmonious from an intellectual point of view; or to hold them in a reasonable tension.
10. My role as a Minister of the Church of Scotland serving a parish within the Scottish Central Belt, requires me to provide a foundation for pastoral intervention in human lives so as to render life meaningful. Hope and encouragement are my preferred ‘tools’ in meeting human need. In this regard, it is assumed that the subject of purgatory is not merely a cerebral issue, but one that can affect humans here and now. As the following quotes confirm:

« What Christians believe about the last things may be first in terms of their influence upon their behaviour in the world. » (Sauter 1999: 139).

CHAPTER ONE  Introduction: The Dispute, or Problem, Before the ‘Court’
A Peculiar Issue
Why a ‘Burning Issue’?
Terminology
Eschatology
The Potential of Purgatory
TWO Perspective (My Interest in the Case) 
Methodology and Operative Assumptions
The Manner in which I Approach the Argument
THREE The Bible 
2 Maccabees
Genesis 3:24
Matthew 12: 31
Matthew 5: 23
1 Corinthians 3: 11 – 15
Summary
FOUR The History of the Church 
Introduction
Early Origins
St Augustine
Gregory the Great
Mortal and Venial Sins
St Thomas Aquinas
Subsequent Councils and Further Development
The Reformation and Beyond
The Counter Reformation
Contemporary Roman Catholic Teaching
FIVE The Opinions of Expert Witnesses 
Introduction
Bernhard Bartmann
Joseph Ratzinger
Arthur James Mason
Brian Hebblethwaite
John Macquarrie
Gerhard Sauter
Jurgen Moltmann
SIX The Contribution (The Arguments ‘For’) 
Introduction
The Anthropological View
The Theodical View
The Universalist View
The View of Tradition
The Biblical View
The View of the Doctrines of Justification and Sanctification
The Pastoral View
SEVEN Conclusion (Summation) 
Bibliography
GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT